The Glow Within
by Kalgoorliegirl246
Summary: The 19th generation of Samurai Rangers have been called. Defeating the nighlok they find lifelong friendships and even love. But when the final battle with Master Xandred goes horribly wrong for one rangers are the others able to help or will they have to find something within themselves?
1. Chapter 1

Emily (2008)

I was walking down an alley in the city, trying not to think about what was about to happen. Instead I was focused on following my Ape Zord so I wouldn't get lost. I'm a country girl who's never been to the city before. Growing up on my parent's farm I'm used to trees and meadows, not skyscrapers and traffic. I left home several hours ago when I received the arrow, calling me to duty in the city.

Oh by the way I'm Emily, I'm 16 years old and I am the 19th Yellow Samurai Power Ranger. Right now I'm on my way to meet the other rangers and start protecting the world from nighloks.I've been lost in my own world for a few minutes when Ape Zord starts getting excited.

"Are we almost there?" I ask while laughing. She nods so I start running to the meeting place that will change my life forever. Two minutes later I can see a black SUV with the ranger emblem on it parked under a bridge. I can also see a guy and a girl talking in front of it. They seem friendly so I keep running over to meet my teammates.

"Are you the red ranger?" I ask the guy. He's African American wearing black swimming shorts, a blue jacket and carrying a blue gym bag. He looks dedicated and somewhat of a perfectionist.

"No I'm the blue. Kevin" he smiles and shakes my hand. I smile back and introduce my name and colour.

"My name is Mia, I'm the pink ranger." Mia has an Asian look to her with black hair, dark eyes and olive skin. Her voice is sweet and welcoming, I've known her for 5 minutes but I can already tell she's graceful, strong and a great fighter. I'm never going to be able match up to her but I can't let the others know what I'm thinking so I keep smiling.

"So you guys must be my peeps." We look up to see a guy smirking and walking towards us. He's wearing jeans with a black shirt and a green jacket. He also has dark skin but green eyes. A fun loving joker it seems.

"You're the red ranger?" Kevin sounds a bit doubtful at this guy's greeting. The guy in green looks offended at being called red. "No I'm the mighty green. I'm Mike." The four of us talk for a few minutes when we hear the footsteps of a horse.

"Woah" I look to see the most beautiful white horse carrying the most handsome guy I have ever seen. He has chiselled features and cocoa blonde hair but what catch my attention is his eyes, I've never seen such a vibrant shade of blue before. I can tell he's strong, determined and loyal but I get the sense that he's had to grow up fast. I can sense something else but it's too hidden for me to be sure.

"With an entry like that, you've gotta be the red ranger." Mike has a smirk on his face, was he expecting something like this?

"Yes. I'm Jayden the red ranger. "

He doesn't smile, playing the part of a fearless leader. "Let me warn you now: once you decide to follow me, there is no turning back. Either we defeat the nighlok together or they take over the world. Do not accept because you we're trained to do so. Accept only if you are willing to live and fight as samurai rangers."

"Without hesitation" Kevin only waits a second before declaring his loyalty.

"I've been training for this since I was a little girl, so yes." Mia manages to unknowingly kill all my self-confidence with that statement.

Oh my god this is really happening, I'm about to pledge my life to these guys, to save Serena's.

"I'm ready to give it all I've got." I'll do everything I can to make these guys and Serena proud of me.

"Ok ok do we have to be so formal? Let's do this thing." The atmosphere is lighten by Mike's answer, Jayden hands us our samuraizers and leads us towards the Shiba house, my new home for however long it takes to defeat the nighlok.


	2. Chapter 2

Jayden (September 2008)

All these years of imagining what my team of rangers were like, I didn't come close to ones in front of me.

We are sitting around the living room after our first battle with a nighlok, getting to know each other. So far they match the descriptions of their parents and ancestors.

Kevin Hamasaki is the typical dedicated and traditional blue ranger, Mia Watanabe is the caring and graceful pink ranger, Mike Hayashi is the fun loving and rebellious green ranger and Emily Suzuki is the cheerful and clumsy yellow ranger.

Emily is also the most beautiful person I have ever seen. Her blonde hair falls into natural curls around her heart shaped face with a button nose and soft pink lips. But I can't stop thinking of her eyes.

I've never been intrigued by hazel eyes before but hers are different. They're the perfect combination of green and brown, they seem to be lit up with the happiness emitting from her.

It seems like everything makes her happy until Mia starts talking about her brother and the topic of siblings starts. As soon as the word brother is said her face changes from happy to sad and she starts playing with her necklace, which looks like a musical note charm on a gold chain.

I'm about to ask her what's wrong when Mike asks if I have any younger brothers or sisters. When I say that I don't they ask Emily.

Emily is still looking at her necklace. The others are confused because she didn't respond.

"Emily" Mentor Ji calls her and she looks at him like she's undecided about something. He nods and she sighs.

"I have an older sister, Serena." She starts playing with her necklace again. She sounds so heartbroken I...Wait did she say older sister? The samurai ranger is the birthright of the eldest child. The others still look confused.

"Why isn't Serena here then?" I don't want Emily to feel like we don't want her here but Serena was supposed to answer the call.

She lifts her face to look straight at me. She looks so scared and sad I mentally promise to do whatever I can so she never feels this way again.

"Three years ago she was diagnosed with a mutated form of leukaemia. Over the last couple of months she's gone downhill, she can't sit up in bed now. Doctors say she only has a year left if she's lucky."

Mia

My heart broke when Emily told us about Serena. Her voice was breaking and there were a few tears falling down her face but she held strong.

I was so excited when I received the call but if I knew that it could possibly be the last time I saw my brother Terry, there is no way that I could be as happy as she has been all day.

There is a second of silence before someone speaks up.

"Man that sucks." Mike laments which causes Emily to laugh and the tension to dissipate.

"Alright rangers you can continue this tomorrow. I suggest you get some sleep. You starting training in the morning at 7.30am sharp." says Mentor. I look at my watch and see that it is getting late.

"Of course. Goodnight Mentor." Jayden responds as Mentor gets up and walks down the hall.

"Come on Emily, we should go too." I say putting my hand on her shoulder. She looks at me, smiles and nods.

"Goodnight guys." We say at the same time which causes us to burst out laughing as we walk to our room. Once we're changed I climb into my bed and start reading when I hear the most haunting sound. I look up to see Emily sitting on her bed playing a wooden flute, so engrossed in the music she has her eyes closed.

She plays so beautifully that all the boys have come to stand in the door frame. We all listen in silence for a few minutes until she finishes.

Opening her eyes she's surprised to see everyone looking at her and her face goes tomato red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you guys up." I've got a feeling that this wont be the last time she apologises for something unnecessarily.

"Don't be. That was amazing. You have a real talent for that." Kevin reassures her while Mike and Jayden nod.

"Alright guys, out. You can hear Emily play tomorrow. Go to sleep." I push the guys out the room, failing to hide the smile on my face.

"Good night." They tell us again. I close the door and giggle with Emily.

"You too missy. Tomorrow is our first day being official samurai rangers."

"Yes ma'am" she salutes me then puts her flute away and lies down in bed. "Goodnight Mia"

"Goodnight Emily" I close my eyes and remember the sounds of her flute as I fell asleep.

Mike (October 2008)

Ugh why do people get up this early? I've been doing this for a month and I'm still not used to it.

I groan and get out of bed, put on my training uniform and head to the kitchen for breakfast. Thankfully Mia is still on her morning run so I get myself a bowl of cereal. Mia is a great person but not a great cook. I sit down next to Emily and watch Kevin and Jayden discuss samurai battle techniques.

We've all become a strange little family. Jayden is like the obedient oldest child, Mia is the caring big sister, Kevin is the brother that worships Jayden, I am the laid back little brother and Emily is bubbly little sister.

After defeating Rofer I've realised that we've all become closer friends, especially Emily. I've come to see her as my little sister. She was the only one who didn't criticise me for trying to take him on by myself, rather she told me I was brave and next time I would definitely get the nighlock.

That's the confusing thing about Emily. She's always happy and optimistic, never says a bad word about anyone...except herself. She always compares herself to Serena and Mia. She still considers herself to be the weakest by a wide margin, even though Ji and Jayden say she has improved greatly since we came together.

After training the gap sensor goes off and we run to the nighlok. Negatron, as he calls himself, is ugly but not as intimidating as other nighloks we have faced.

My confidence gets the best of me and I charge towards Negatron, spin sword ready.

"You had training wheels on your bike til you were ten!" How did he possibly know that? Suddenly I'm hit with a purple beam and fly into the building behind me, as I land on the ground I demorph.

"Mike!" I hear Mia running towards me and she tries to help me up but I can't move. Doesnt take me long to realise that the others need her more then I do.

"Mia go. I'll be right" she hesitates for a second but runs over to the others just as Negatron strikes again.

"You're just plain old boring blue." Kevin is sent flying into another building

"You're a horrible cook." Mia quickly follows him.

Now there is just Jayden and Emily left standing. Man I hope that Jayden is strong enough to defeat him because Emily won't be if Negatron targets her.

"You've got a secret red ranger." That stops Jayden charging but does not send him flying. Maybe we have a chance...

"You're a liar liar red pants on fire."

...Or not. Jayden just went flying into the wall. Emily tries to help him up but it's like we are being pinned down by a big rock.

Suddenly Emily gets angry and starts charging at Negatron, all we can do is lay there and watch our younger sister be defeated.

"Airhead" Emily doesn't react and manages to strike Negatron.

"Klutz" again nothing from Emily

"What's up with this chick? Cry baby" still nothing

"Earth slicer" Emily manages to make Negatron dry up and run back to the Sanzu River. We just look at Emily in shock.

We managed to make it back to the Shiba house and are now sitting in the meeting room. No one has said a word. They are all too scared about bringing up what Negatron said.

"Just because I had training wheels on my bike doesn't mean I needed them." I'm breaking this tense silence. And there is NO way that I'm letting these guys believe that I can't ride a bike.

"Am I boring?" Kevin asks us. To be honest it's the first time I've heard Kevin doubt himself.

"No Kevin you are extremely disciplined, it's a great trait for a samurai." Jayden comforted Kevin who gently smiled.

"And I'm a good cook right?" Mia wants us to reassure her but I don't know if I can without hurting her feelings. Thankfully Emily steps in. "Your combinations are strange but we are lucky that you even want to cook dinner for us."

"I don't understand why Emily wasn't effected by what he said like the rest of us." I didn't mean to say that, I was thinking out loud.

"Maybe she has some sort of special power." For once Ji didn't have a definite answer. Emily giggles and shakes her head.

"It's nothing like that. I used to get teased a lot when I was younger, Serena taught me to ignore them like they hadn't said anything. Guess it works on nighloks too."

At this point I'm not even thinking of what I'm saying.

"But you are always putting yourself down with the same comments. Unless that's really what you think of yourself?"

Her face drops instantly. "I'm sorry" tears are running down her face as she runs out of the room.

"The nighlok may not be able to hurt her feelings Mike, but you can." Mia gently scolds me. Looking around the room Kevin looks angry, Ji hangs his head and I think Jayden has gone to check on Emily. I drop my face into my palms.

Man I always do this. Dad always tells me 'think before you speak Michael, you never know the damage of words'.

* * *

Authors Note:

Hey guys Kalgoorliegirl here

So this is my first story ever so please don't hate me if this is bad :)

Just so you guys know I haven't seen the episodes in such a long time so if something doesn't quite match I'm sorry (kinda) but hopefully it will all make sense when the story is finished. Lauren wont be included in this story but I had written the end of the story before I realized that I left her out. I didn't want to rewrite it so she didn't make the cut.

yes it will be a Jemily story! I'm sorry to Memily and Jia shippers but NO! not happening.

Just want to thank a few people

1. RosesAreRed464 for being the first one to review and favorite this story. I swear I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I saw this

2. Jemilyfan6 for reviewing as well

and 3. sweetredranger for being the first one to follow my story. Again couldn't keep the smile off my face.

That's all for now. I will try to keep the authors notes to a minimum going on

Enjoy!

Love Kalgoorliegirl


	3. Chapter 3

Jayden

I followed Emily as she ran outside. I know she needs a minute alone so I stand by the door and watch her.

Mike you are an idiot.

It's one thing to notice someone insecurities but a whole other thing to confront them about it. We all know her insecurities are unfounded but that's who she is. And we accept her for it.

As I watch her look up at the stars I feel two things. 1. I want to go and hold her and promise her that she's not weak. 2. I want to punch Mike in the face for upsetting her.

The first feeling I can attribute to being her leader and friend, the second feeling I can't account for at all. I have never wanted to hurt anyone except moogers and nighloks, but when I saw the tears in her eyes I was furious at Mike.

I want to believe it's because she's my friend and I want to protect her but 'friend' doesn't seem like the right term, it's not enough. I want more with Emily.

Oh my god I like Emily as more than a friend. That's why I want to punch Mike, that's why I was the first one to follow her, why I want to protect her and make sure nothing hurts her.

Wow so this is what it's like to have feelings for a girl. Gotta admit it's pretty nice. Wonder if Ji knew that this would happen. He would probably lecture me on how my duty as the red samurai ranger are more important than these feelings. Besides Emily would never have feelings for a guy like me, a guy who's boring, quiet, overly focused on his duties. She probably has a ton of guys waiting for her at home anyway.

I'm bought out of these thoughts by Emily playing her flute. I walk over and stand behind her and listen intently, imagining what it would be like if she cared for me too. When she finishes her song she turns around and jumps when she sees me.

"Oh Jayden I uh just needed to clear my head." She starts to blush which makes me melt.

"I wanted to check on you, but I didn't want to interrupt your song. You're really good." I confess.

"Me? No. You should hear Serena play. She's much better than I am." She sadly sighs while looking at the flute in her hands. She walks over and sits on the bench, still looking at the flute.

"I'm sure you're just as good." I reassure her because she's doubting herself again.

Suddenly she looks like she's about to cry.

"Emily, what's wrong?" I sit next to her on the bench and move some of her hair away from her eyes.

"Serena gave me this flute when she got sick. She taught me how to play it, I used to play it to her to help her sleep but I was never as good as her. I don't know if I can do this Jayden. Serena was always the stronger, faster one. She picked up her training so quickly. "She was in full tears by now.

"I'm not good enough to be a part of this team. You guys have been training your whole lives! I've only been doing this for 3 years. Serena would have been the better yellow ranger. I'm just a replacement"

I put arms around her shoulders and just let her cry into my chest. I have to admit that it's feels really good to be holding her against my body. She fits so well too, like she was designed around me.

After a few minutes her breathing calms down and she wipes away the last of her tears as she's pulling away from me. I feel empty, not holding her.

"Emily, you are not a replacement. There is a reason you are a part of the team. You are strong, fast and a great samurai. If you ever feel otherwise I'll be here to remind you." I look her straight in the eye, hopefully she can tell how serious I am.

She nods. "Serena always says that I am my own worse enemy" muttering to herself.

"Come on I have an idea on how to defeat this guy." She laughs so I stand up, offer my hand, pull her up and lead her inside to tell her and the others about my plan.

~~~~Several hours later~~~

So the plan worked. Emily was able to fill his mouth with rocks to make him stop talking and we were able to engage his mega monster mode. Thanks to Kevin's plan to merge the zords we were able to destroy him forever, and that's when Emily passed out.

"Emily" Mia shakes her shoulders but she doesn't wake up. When she demorphs Mia checks her over. "She's not hurt. I think she's just exhausted." I silently release a sigh of relief and change back to my casual clothes. I walk over to her, gently move the hair out of her face and manoeuvre her onto my back so I'm giving her a piggyback ride. As we walk home she stirs and moves her head into the crook of my neck which feels amazing, it takes everything I have to not turn and kiss her forehead gently. I look forward and see Mia smile knowingly at me before she goes back to her conversation with Kevin.

Emily

I can't believe I'm starring again. Ever since Jayden comforted me after what Mike said about putting myself down, I catch myself staring at him at least once a day.

He's such a strong samurai, so loyal, dedicated and focused, I train harder to be like him and Kevin, to make Serena proud.

Mia and I are sparring like Mike and Kevin when Mentor comes outside and stands next to Jayden, who's watching us.

"Rangers that's enough training for today. Come inside I have an important matter to discuss with you." With that Mentor walks back inside.

Mia looks at me and I shrug. We've got no idea what's going on and judging by the looks on the boys faces they don't know either. I follow the others inside but before I reach the door Jayden, who was in front of me, stops and lets me pass him.

"Ladies first." I can't stop myself from giggling as I walk past him. I sit next to Mia as we wait for Mentor to begin.

"Someone has been kidnapping brides from weddings. We believe its Master Xandred." Those poor women, kidnapped on what's supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.

"The plan is set up a fake wedding and let them take one of the girls who'll tell the others where the brides are and rescue them." Mentor explained. I knew pretty much straight away that Mia would be the bride from the excitement in her eyes while Mentor was explaining the plan. But who was going to the groom?

"So Mia will play the blushing bride, any volunteers to play the groom?" I tease the guys and it works, Jayden laughs when Mike freezes and Kevin goes blank.

"Kevin?" Jayden smirks.

"Uh I'm not a very good actor. Sorry Mia." Kevin looks really upset about saying no to Mia, does he like her? Mia looks a little disheartened, does she like him?

"Mike?" Jayden says breaking my planning for Mia and Kevin.

"No way. I hate weddings so no." Mike doesn't sound upset at all.

"Guess I'll have to do it then." Jayden sighs.

The next day I'm sitting in a church with Kevin, Mentor and Mike to watch Jayden marry Mia. I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's bad when I see Mia smile at Jayden, it gets worse when I see Jayden smile at Mia. Why isn't he smiling at me? Why isn't me playing his bride?

Wait a minute? Why do I want to be Jayden's bride? Why am I jealous? It's not like I'm in love with Jayden, am I? I look up at Jayden in his tuxedo, my breath catches and my heart flutters, I have my answer. No I'm not in love with him but I do like him.

Thankfully Mentor's phone rings and interrupts my realization. Our plan didn't work, moogers have kidnapped another bride. Frustrated we walk back to the Shiba house and try to think of a new plan. All my ideas are squashed when Mentor shows us the list of weddings booked for tomorrow.

Then Jayden's eyes light up and he looks right at me. I can see the idea in his eyes. It scares me a little but I know it'll work. I trust Jayden with my life. I nod slightly to let him know its ok.

"Guys I've got an idea." He announces, his eyes not leaving mine.

~~~the next day~~~

So this week was my week of realisations.

1. I hate being handled by moogers.

2. I love wearing a wedding dress. I feel so beautiful.

3. I have a crush on Jayden Shiba, the red samurai ranger.

Why did I have to start crushing on him? There is no way that he would ever want to be with me. I'm clumsy and weak and he would never like me.

I'm sitting outside playing my flute when Mia walks up behind me.

"I'm done with the bathroom if you want to change Em." She looks at me with questions in her eyes.

"Thanks Mia." I smile at her, hoping that will ease her mind but it doesn't.

"What's wrong?" She sits next to me on the bench.

"Just thinking over some things I realised yesterday." I turn to look at the ground.

"That you like Jayden?" My head snaps up and my eyes go wide. How did she know when I didn't know?

"I figured it out after I saw how you looked at him during the first wedding. Don't worry I won't tell anyone but I'll be here if you want to talk about it." She explained, answering my unasked question. She hugged my shoulders and went inside.

Holy heck. If Mia can tell does that mean the others can? Can Jayden tell? No Mia is just extremely observant when it comes to this stuff. Ok so if I act like nothing happened then I'll get over it and the guys will never know.

Oh I wish you were here Serena. You'd know what to do. I stand up and go inside to see the guys making fun of Jayden's acting when Mia was been kidnapped by moogers. He laughs with them and I sigh to myself. That's got to be one of greatest sounds ever.

"Hey Em, why are you still in that dress?" Mike asked since he and the others had already changed into their normal clothes.

"Mia took a while in the bathroom ok?" I laugh and smile at Mia. She has a fake look of horror on her face. "Anyway I'm going to wash the feeling of moogers off me then call it a night. Goodnight guys." I walk down the hall to mine and Mia's room to shower and end this crazy day. Shaking my head, ignoring my crush on such a great guy that I live with and see every day is not going to be easy.


	4. Chapter 4

Kevin

"Goodnight Emily" we watch her walk into the girl's room and shake her head. Wonder why she did that. I turn and see Mia looking sad for Emily. Why are girls so weird?

Mike goes back to his video game and I notice Jayden is staring after Emily with strange look in his eyes, like he wants her to come back. Mia looks at Jayden and smiles like the cat that got the cream. Does she like Jayden? And if so, why am I getting mad about it?

~~~one month later~~~

We ran to a construction site and found moogers without a nighlok. That's unusual. They saw us morph and started to charge us. We all start running towards them and take on a bunch. Things were going well until the darkest voice started saying "red ranger, red ranger". Then the moogers pushed us away and started attacking Jayden. We looked at one another, shared a thought and raced to help him.

Damn these moogers are tough to be beat when they are this determined. I see Jayden take Emily's spin sword from her while a mooger turn to attack her. I turn to destroy the mooger before it hurt her.

"What does he think he's doing? Taking your sword? You're defenceless without it." I yell to Emily

"Guys duck!" Jayden yells, to answer my question he performs a move with both his and Emily's swords that destroys all the remaining moogers.

"Red ranger you are in danger." The creepy voice says and the gap glows closed. Jayden walks away from us deep in thought.

"Jayden? Who was that?" Mike asked

"I don't think I've ever heard anything so evil before." Mia told us

"Jayden what's going on?" I asked angrily since he answered any of us

"Jayden?" Emily's voice is so soft I'm not sure he heard her but he turns his head towards her slightly

"Not here, back at the house." He finally says. We nod and follow him.

"That voice you heard was Master Xandred. The reason he targeted Jayden is because he is the only one who can seal Master Xandred for good." Mentor Ji explained to us in the meeting room. Jayden hasn't said anything or looked at us since he defeated the moogers.

"Seal Master Xandred?" I questioned.

"Yes. Master Xandred has always been too powerful to destroy so the past red rangers created a sealing symbol to trap him in the netherworld forever. The last red ranger, Jayden's father, was not strong enough to make the seal permanent so the responsibility falls to Jayden to master the symbol and end this war for good." Ji answered and Jayden walked out of the room without a word.

The sealing power is the only way to defeat Master Xandred. We've decided that our duties as samurai now include protecting Jayden above all others, including ourselves. He wasn't happy when he overheard us discussing this.

Thankfully the gap sensor went off before we could get into an argument over it. We ran back to the construction site and see another nighlok waiting for us with more moogers.

Robotish, as he calls himself, is just another ugly nighlok. I wonder what his special trick is. "Moogers attack the rangers" we arm our spin swords and attack the moogers except for Jayden who attacks Robotish.

I've almost destroyed my share of moogers when I get a bad feeling. I look up and see Robotish about to release a massive attack on Jayden. My duty as a samurai ranger reminds me that I need to protect Jayden so I destroy my last mooger and run towards Jayden.

"Double Slash!" Robotish yells. I run faster towards Jayden and manage to step in front of him and take the attack. As I scream from the pain I realise that there is a second scream but I pass out before I can see who it is.

Mia

At the Shiba house it's quiet. Robotish's double slash greatly injured Kevin and Emily. The sight of my little sister and my crush falling to the ground in tremendous pain will haunt my dreams tonight.

Right now they are sleeping in the recovery room. They haven't woken up since the battle. Mentor says that their symbol power will speed up the healing process and they will be fully healed by lunch tomorrow. Mike and I are sitting at the ends of their beds watching them when Mentor comes in.

"Mike, Mia, have either of you seen Jayden?" He asks. Mike shakes his head.

"I haven't seen him since he went into his room when we got home." I answer as Mike shakes his head. I wanted to follow Jayden and make sure he was ok but Emily and Kevin needed me more. Mentor looks a bit stressed now. "Is something wrong?" I ask.

"Jayden isn't in his room. I can't find him anywhere. I'm worried he has run away." He confesses. I look out the window and sure enough the gate is open. "He just needs some time. He'll come back." I say to comfort Mike and Mentor, although to be honest I'm not sure he will.

I can probably relate to what he's feeling to some degree. I know Jayden likes Emily and is very close to Kevin so the sight of them falling is probably haunting him too. But they didn't do that to protect me. They did it to protect him. I can't imagine the guilt he must be feeling.

Soon Emily and Kevin start waking up. Mike jumps to Emily's side as I move to Kevin's side. I gently stroke his face with a damp cloth as his eyes open. "Hey" I whisper, full of relief. He smiles and I have to stop myself from throwing my arms around him.

"Mike where's Jayden?" I hear Emily ask. He looks at me and I look back at him. We all know that Emily and Jayden like each other so how do you tell her that he left? She starts looking like she's about to have a panic attack so Mike puts his hand on her shoulder and gently says "He needs some time Em." She looks heartbroken but she understands so she nods.

After an hour of talking and caring for them, we all start feeling tired. Once Em and Kev are comfortable Mike and I go off to our rooms to sleep and hope that Jayden comes home soon.

Jayden

This is how life should be. I'm sitting on a bench at the park watching the kids play. I start seeing similarities between some of the kids and my team, uh, I mean the others. They're not my team any more. The moment of Kevin and Emily lying on the ground, looking lifeless has been taunting me all day and night, reminding me on how much of a failure I am. I promised myself to protect them and I broke that promise, especially to Emily

I shake my head, trying to get rid of the image when I hear a little boy crying against the tree next to me. I look around the park for his parents but no one seems to be paying attention to him.

"Hey what's wrong? Are you hurt?" I ask him and sit next him. He shakes his head and tells me that his dad has gone away for work and he misses him. That gets me thinking about the last time I saw my dad.

12 years ago when Xandred last tried to take over the world, my dad was the red ranger of his team. His team members were Kevin's and Mike's fathers and Emily and Mia's mothers. I was 5 years old and living at the Shiba house with them and Ji, my mother had passed from cancer the year before.

On the night of the final battle my father gave me Lion Zord and told me "One day you will lead your own team of samurai. Be a good leader and work together to defeat Master Xandred." That was the last time I saw him. He used the last of his energy to create the sealing symbol.

The little boy's soft cry brings me back to reality then I get an idea. I quickly get out my samuraser and draw a symbol. A piece of red paper appears as the boys looks shocked. I smile and fold it into a paper aeroplane. Soon he's running around chasing it and I'm creating more planes for the other kids.

Suddenly I hear the running footsteps of moogers. I turn around and see them chasing the kids so I start attacking them with my hands and feet. From the corner of my eyes I see the kids and parents are hidden behind a few trees.

"Go get out of here!" I yell at them. Once they're gone I get out my spin sword and take the moogers down.

This is most moogers I've ever taken on by myself. Eventually I notice that some of the moogers have stopped fighting me and moved onto other targets. Looking up I see Kevin, Mia, Mike and Emily armed with their spin swords, fighting moogers. I'm thankful to see Emily and Kevin are at full health.

During the battle they all remind me of the importance and value of teamwork. We defeat Robotish together and I remember something Mentor Ji told me a few years ago "A samurai is strong but a team of samurai is unbeatable."

Its late afternoon when we get back to the Shiba house. Everyone has forgiven me for leaving, Ji has welcomed me back and everything is back to normal. Well almost everything.

Emily hasn't said anything since we got back; actually I haven't seen her since they forgave me. I want to apologise to her again, we've gotten really close over the last month and the thought of her hating me for deserting her breaks my heart.

I'll wait a few minutes then look for her. After I put all my stuff back in my room I start looking for her. I know if something is bothering her, she'll go outside and play her flute but when I look outside she's not there. She's not training, cooking or anywhere in the house. I'm pretty sure she's in her room but when I knocked she didn't open the door or acknowledge me in any way. I walked away disappointed, hopefully she'll be able to forgive me soon.

Kevin and I have been discussing more possible zord combinations for a while when Mentor calls us in for dinner. I take my usual seat next to Emily's seat and hold my breath, waiting to see her.

But she doesn't come. After I finish eating Mentor asks "Jayden can you take this tray of food to Emily please?" I look at the others confused, why is Emily still in her room? But they just look sad. I clear my dishes, take the tray from Mentor and walk down the hall to the girl's room. Outside her door I can hear her crying and talking to herself. My stomach feels like it weighs a ton, I caused her to feel like this.


	5. Chapter 5

_Emily_

I can't be with the others right now. I can't be happy that Jayden's back when he left me alone.

My room is my sanctuary.

My tear stained pillow is my only comfort.

I focus on feeling numb because when I slip and feel something I feel everything. The pain of loss is so overwhelming, it consumes me entirely. One thought or memory reminds me of the worst day of my life.

A knock on the door brings me back to reality. I look at my alarm clock and realise that I've been zoned out for several hours now, the headache confirms it. When I hear another knock I carefully get off my bed, catch my balance and slowly walk to the door. Taking a deep breath I turn the handle and pull the door towards me to see Jayden standing there carrying a tray of food, looking worried.

For a minute the awkward silence is deafening, I wipe the tear tracks off my face. I can feel his eyes evaluating me; I can imagine what he sees. Red puffy eyes, red nose, pale skin, messy hair and dishevelled clothes.

With another blink he suddenly realizes that he's staring, "um Mentor wanted me to bring this to you." gesturing to the tray of food in his hands.

"Thank you." I say while taking the tray from his hands and walking to the bed. I sit cross legged and place the tray in front of me. I'm not hungry even though I haven't eaten since breakfast, so I just stare at it. After a few minutes of silence it's broken.

"Em, what's wrong?" I had totally forgotten that Jayden was still here until he said that. I look up at him with fresh tears as I remember what Mentor Ji told me that broke my heart. I can tell that he's worried but that makes me angry. If he was so worried, why did he leave?

"Why does it matter to you?" I replied angrily. He looked shocked, to be honest I've never spoken to anyone in anger before. I can usually control my anger, but his leaving was stupid and selfish.

"Emily I'm sorry I left but I honestly thought it was best. I couldn't stand the fact that you guys were getting hurt because of me." He explained. It was pretty much what he told the others when we got home. I don't respond, I just continue looking at him. That made him angry.

"Damn it Emily, everyone else has forgiven me why can't you?"

"Because you didn't leave them injured, unable to move, worried sick about you. AND YOU DIDN'T ABANDON THEM WHEN THEY FOUND OUT THEIR SISTER DIED!" I screamed, an immediate reaction. A heartbeat of silence passes, his face drops, I realize what I said and drop my head into my hands to start crying again.

I feel the bed move and shift a little until I realise that he is now sitting next to me.

"I'm so sorry Emily. I'm sorry." he whispers into my hair and gently wraps his arms around me and pulls my head into his firm chest. He doesn't say anything else for the rest of the night, he just holds me while I mourn my courageous big sister.

In the morning he explains why he really left. Knowing that we are willing to sacrifice our lives for him reminds him of the guilt and grief he has carried with him since his father died. He listens to me talk about Serena, wipes my face when the emotions become too much and holds me when I sleep. This pattern continues for a few days until he is able to persuade me to join the others.

Walking out to the living room with Jayden behind I stop at the doorway, suddenly overcome with guilt for ignoring them and hiding in my room for the last three days.

"Um guys. I'm so sorry for last few days. I didn't mean to just shut you out. I hope you're not too mad at me." I end up looking at the ground, shuffling my feet waiting for them to get upset with me.

"Em you know we would never get mad at you. We're just glad that you're feeling better." Mia assures me. I let go of a huge breath I hadn't realised I was holding. In no time at all we are able to laugh and just be ourselves. A few days later we welcome a new samurai to the team.

Antonio, the gold ranger, is Jayden's childhood best friend. He was able to build his own morpher and train himself. He moved away when he was a kid but moved back to fulfil a promise to Jayden to join us.

Jayden and Kevin were hesitant to let him join the team but for different reasons. Kevin's refusal was based on the fact that Antonio didn't have any formal training and his family wasn't samurai, Jayden didn't want his best friend to get hurt but refused to tell Antonio that. It took a few days but I was able to convince Jayden that letting Antonio join the team wasn't going to mean that Antonio was going to get hurt. I convinced him that he wouldn't lose Antonio to the nighlok like his father.

I really enjoyed talking to Antonio. He was bright and funny and didn't have the look of pity that the others have when I talk to them. While I didn't tell Antonio about Serena but I'm sure one of the others have. In no time at all its like Antonio has been here the whole time. I'm not sure how we went without him around.

2 weeks later they are there standing next to me as I say goodbye to my sister forever. While my sister's coffin is being lowered into the ground I feel a gentle pressure on my hand, I look down and see that I have grabbed Jayden's hand without thinking about it.

I just stand there and stare at my sister's final resting place, even after people have left. I didn't think that the day I was called to the power rangers would be the last time I saw my sister. There was so much I wanted to her about being a ranger, how much I've grown and how much I miss her.

"Em we're just going to join Mentor." Kevin tells me gently, so he doesn't startle me. I'm sure Mentor is talking to my parents. I nod without turning to look at them. When I hear their footsteps disappear I say my final goodbye to my sister.

_Serena Terra Suzuki 10/5/1988 - 4/10/2008 Beloved Daughter and Sister _

"Serena I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you. I'm going to make you proud of me. I will defeat the nighlok for you. I hope you're happy and pain free wherever you are. I love you and I'm going to miss you so much. Goodbye Serena"

I walk towards my team and parents, sliding in between Mia and Antonio. After a few minutes of conversation I say goodbye to my parents and we start walking toward the car. I stop and take one last look at my sister's grave when a few tears fall gently down my face. Suddenly I am gathered in Mia's arms and I know that I can freely release all my tears. One by one I receive a hug from each of the guys.

Mia's role as the big sister is comforting, she reminds me of Serena. Mia strokes my hair and rubs my back while I cry. When I finish she wipes the smeared make up and tear tracks and offers a gentle smile.

From Mike, Kevin and Antonio I can feel sympathy.

From Jayden I feel compassion and understanding. In his arms I feel safe and protected.

After we return to the Shiba house Jayden and I help each other overcome the pain of losing a loved one. Every day we become closer to each other and soon we didn't need grief as a reason to be with each other. We would always sit next to each other at meals, sit next to each other when watching movies, he helps me with my training and my confidence.

Over time I have forgotten that I am supposed to be forgetting about my crush on him. If anything as I get to know him better, the feelings have gotten stronger. The stronger part of me knows he is just like this because he is my leader and friend but part of me wants to believe that he cares for me too.


	6. Chapter 6

Mia

It's been two months since Serena passed away and today is Emily's 17th birthday. We've all discussed it with Mentor and because we want to make special for her (since it's her first birthday without Serena) he's allowing us to throw Emily a surprise party. Right now, like most mornings, she is outside playing her flute while the rest of us discuss the plans for this afternoon

"So decorations?" I ask, Mike gives a thumbs up.

"Presents?" Kevin nods

"Distraction?" I can see the excitement of being alone with Emily in Jayden's eyes as he raises his hand. I thought they would be a couple by now, especially after Antonio arrived and became good friends with Em so quick, Jayden was so jealous he was almost green. But they still go on, not knowing that the other is crazy about them.

"Alright all that's left is for me to do is bake the cake." I finish our secret little meeting with a smile.

"NO!" The boys look horrified. I look at them, questioning with my eyes.

"It's just that I already ordered a cake from the bakery so Emily can't walk in on you making it" Antonio explains.

"Ok" I start walking towards the dojo when I swear I hear the guys breathe a collective sigh of relief. Just as I start to turn around to be sure, the gap sensor goes off and another day of power ranger duties begin. The map shows a nighlok at the warehouses in the industrial area. We look at each other now Emily has joined us and run towards the new danger.

Splitface is a tough opponent. Just as we go land a strike on him he dissipates and re-emerges somewhere else, his special attack which he calls Body Form. I'm getting beyond frustrated with this nighlok, he stole the souls of several people before we arrived and the only way to save them is to defeat him.

We can see Splitface is drying up and try to get in one last strike when he turns to Emily. As he strikes Jayden and I watch in horror as a white ball leaves her mouth and she falls to the ground unconscious and demorphed.

"Mmmmm her spirit was delicious! You pesky rangers have until sunset to save her and the others but it doesn't matter. I'm going to the Sanzu River for the rest of the day!" And with that Splitface escaped through a gap.

I immediately run over to Emily while the guys try to chase Splitface. I hold my breath while checking her pulse, fearing the worse. I almost cry in joy when I feel a steady beat. Resting her head in my lap I stroke her hair while the boys rush over.

"We need to get her back to the Shiba house." I don't have to look up to see it's Jayden who picks Emily up and holds her close to his chest. Kevin, Mike and I follow closely behind, from the corner of my eye I see Antonio go in another direction.

_Mentor Ji_

My fears of losing a samurai ranger seemed all too real when Jayden walked through the door yelling for me. To hear such fear in his voice was unsettling. To see a lifeless Emily in his arms was unnerving.

"The nighlok stole her spirit. She's been unconscious ever since." His voice sounded like it usually does but his eyes held a lot of fear for the young girl in his arms.

"Take her to the recovery room. I'll be there in a moment." Jayden nodded to my request and left with the others, I went to my study and quickly found the Journal of Nighloks. For centuries the mentors of the samurai rangers would write down any information they had about the different nighloks so future generations were prepared. I flipped through the pages until I found the one for Splitface.

There was no way to save her unless Splitface comes back to our world and the others defeat him. With a deep sigh and a heavy heart I put away the book and went to check on the rangers. I didn't have to look very far.

Emily was lying in bed, still unconscious with Mia and Mike sitting beside her and Jayden and Kevin against the walls. Once Jayden saw my entry into the room I knew I had to tell him there was nothing I could do.

"Mentor is there any way of saving her if the nighlok doesn't return?" He asked as a leader but his eyes gave away his fear and concern. Unfortunately he was right to be both.

"No there is not. We must hope that he changes his mind about returning so you can defeat him. I can only make her comfortable until then."

Without another word Jayden walked out the room with Kevin not far behind him, Mia starts fussing over Emily and Mike begins to get angry.

"Don't worry Mike. We will find a way to bring him back." I'm not sure if I convinced him entirely but he nods, looks at Emily one more time and also leaves the room.

_Jayden_

Hours have passed since Splitface stole Emily's spirit, now it's about an hour and a half until sunset. I have been staring at the map waiting for any indication that he's come back but so far nothing. I'm starting to wonder if this nighlok was serious when he said he wasn't coming back. They always come back. He _has_ to come back, for Emily.

A world without Emily isn't much of a world to be living in. Her smile can brighten up any day, her laugh can lighten any mood, her hair, her eyes ugh She's perfection on earth, and I let her down. I let the nighlok steal her soul. After everything that has happened to her, after I promised to protect her. I love her and I can't get the courage to tell her how I feel or even protect her from the nighloks. How do you get the one you love to forgive you for something like this?

Then we hear Mia yell "Emily's awake." I've never run this fast before in my life but I am not missing a second of any time with Emily. Entering the room I see Mia removing a damp cloth from her forehead and Emily blinking her eyes, adjusting to the light. I kneel near her head and hold her hand, hopefully giving her some strength.

"Hey guys" it's barely a whisper. I help her to sit up, she doesn't let go of my hand once.

"I'm sorry I let him get to me."

"Don't be silly Em, you didn't do anything wrong" Mia smiles gently at her, typical Emily to blame herself. "You're going to be fine."

She looks at all of us then something changes in Emily's eyes. Defeat? Regret?

"Thanks guys but I now that's not true. I feel so empty inside" She sounds weak now. Her eyes are drooping and her smile faltered.

"We're going to save you Em. I promise, just hang on til then." A tiny smile graces her lips as her eyes close and her hand falls limply from mine. Mike storms out of the room with Kevin and Mia chasing after him while I continue to stare at Emily's sleeping figure. Standing up I place a gentle kiss on her forehead, hopefully not the last one between us, and leave to follow them.

"Look after her Ji.'

The last image I have of my angel is her sleeping peacefully, if this is the last one I have I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

Running out of the house I find Mia and Kevin watching Mike attacking the pillar that Splitface used to escape into the netherworld. There's no point stopping him from getting his anger out. In a way I'm jealous. The others are able to freely express their emotions with no fear of judgement, whereas I have to stay calm and steady for them. It's becoming harder every second that Emily is closer to death.

"What do we do Jayden? There's only an hour until sunset." Mia asked me.

"I don't know Mia" I really don't. I don't want to start losing hope but I don't see another option at this point.

"There is a way to enter the netherworld rangers." Came from a strange voice behind us.

We turned around to face Deker, a half nighlok being that always shows up at the worse time.

"What do you want Deker?"

"I came for the ultimate duel that you will give me, but I see that you are now otherwise occupied." He really sounds disappointed that we can't right now. He starts walking towards the city

"What do you mean there is a way to enter the netherworld?" I run after him until he turned around.

"Give up your humanity and willingly walk through the gap." He answers. Mia and the guys start arguing about who should, if any of us, enter the netherworld.

He turns to walk into the city but he hesitates, turns to face me and walks up to me. In a voice so low the others can't hear he says "Don't think I am only one who knows of your love for the yellow ranger, and will use them against you." My face hardens as he smirks and walks away.

How does he know that I love Emily? What does he mean when he won't be the only one to use them against me? I swear if he or any nighlok hurts Emily to get to me, forget the sealing symbol I'll destroy them with my bare hands.

"Jayden what do we do?" Kevin brings me back to reality, a reality were if we don't act fast I won't have the chance to protect Emily from nighlok.

"I'll do it. I'll be become a nighlok." Anything to protect her.

As expected the others start protesting and arguing why they should be the one to do it.

"Oh amigos! Thank god that I found you all here. I found a way to bring the nighlok back." Antonio comes yelling through the trees and stops in front of us with one hand on his leg, the other pulling his fishing cart.

"Antonio what are you talking about?" Antonio's proclamation hasn't done much too calm Mike's frustration.

"I fixed the Clawzord but I need everyone's symbol power to reactivate him. I marked Splitface with the Clawzord symbol so when's he reactivated it should draw Splitface out of the Netherworld." Antonio explained.

We place clawzord on the ground and we stand around it in a circle. We each draw our elemental symbol and aim it towards the Clawzord. Each of us thinking of Emily and our time together to strengthen our symbol power we managed to reactivate the Clawzord and drag Splitface from the netherworld.

"What? What am I doing back here? I'm supposed to be in the netherworld." Splitface yells, it worked we managed to get him back to our world.

"Not today nighlok. You're going to give back all those spirits you stole." Mike threatens as we start moving into our formation, though it doesn't feel the same without Emily.

"Hmmm I don't think so rangers." He starts to perform Body Form but something is stopping him from separating.

"Whats going on?' Splitface sounds angry now

"The mark I put one you to bring you back also prevents you from doing your special attack" Antonia explains which just makes Splitface growl loudly.

"So let's make this quick. Go Go Samurai." The others follow and morph with me then we attack Splitface as a team.

We destroy his first life as the sun starts to disappear behind the horizon. But then he turns into a mega monster.

"What are we going to do? We can't form the megazord without Emily." Mike asks.

"We can form the Battle Wing." Kevin answers

"And I can join you with the Claw Battle Zord" Antonio adds. With my nod we enter megamode and combine the Tiger Zord, Swordfish Zord and Beetle Zord. Antonio stands next to us in the Claw Battle Zord. Together we defeat Splitface just as the sun disappears completely. Racing back to the Shiba house I just hope we were able to save Emily in time.

* * *

Hey everyone, 

So I feel like my last chapter was pretty substandard so hopefully this one is better.

I probably wont be able to update next weekend as I have a two day shooting event but I'm going to try.

I'm getting excited as we are getting close to where the story starts deviating from the tv series and going towards my original idea.

Just because I'm curious, please comment where in the world you live. I'll start, I live in Kalgoorlie Boulder Western Australia, about 6 hour drive inland from the capital city.

Thanks guys

love Kalgoorliegirl246


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